Tag Archives: Goth

Today a Facebook Friend of mine Cherie Straw is having a SteamPunk Masquerade Ball tonight here in Des Moines, Iowa. IT maybe chlily out, but Des Moines knows how to be daring, different and have some fun.

If you are looking for a mask there are some unique ones out there. Like this one for instance

For me I love dressing up in costumes and going to parties and events. Doing so is referred to “Cosplay”

Cosplay(コスプレ kosupure?), short for “costume play”, is a type of performance art in which participants wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture centered on role play. A broader use of the term “cosplay” applies to any costumed role play in venues apart from the stage, regardless of the cultural context.

Most people think of Cosplay in a Japanese sense or Comic Books Geeks who dress up and go to Comic Cons but Cosplay has branched farther out into many father depths. I dress up and go to Comic Cons as well but I am actually a part of an Iowa SteamPunk group, go to the Renaissance Fair in SteamPunk garb, do Steam Punk Photo Shoots and go to Steam Punk parties.

Fashion is more than how you do your hair, makeup and style your clothes. Fashion is about being brave enough to wear Cosplay I think too. Do you dare to go beyond the norm and be different?

SteamPunk has it’s own fashion style as well. There is Gothic Steam Punk, There is Elizabethan SteamPunk, Victorian SteamPunk and then the mis match kind. IT is fun to be in groups like the Iowa Steam Punk and see the costumes in pictures when they take them because you never know what you will see and how the costumes will be.

Steampunk may also, though not necessarily, incorporate additional elements from the genres of fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history, or other branches of speculative fiction, making it often a hybrid genre. The term steampunk’s first known appearance was in 1987, though it now retroactively refers to many works of fiction created even as far back as the 1950’s or 1960’s.

Steampunk also refers to any of the artistic styles, clothing fashions, or subcultures, that have developed from the aesthetics of steampunk fiction, Victorian-era fiction, and films from the mid-20th century.[2] Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual

Most do not buy their costume as they are so expensive. There are a few costume shops here in Des Moines where you can start piecing together things but even still it can get pricey. I went to Nobbies to get most of my jewelery and earrings and gloves. I bought a few items at the Ren Faire. I bought my Corset at Queen Victoria’s Secret for $100 but it is handmade and bone and hand grommeted so it was well worth it. Queen Victoria is Scarlett Moffat and she can be emailed here .

This isn’t a Queen Victoria is is just an example

Here is the Corset I bought from QV

Arm Vial Band I bought at Ren Faire

Here are some snaps from a recent Steam Punk Photo Shoot of Me:

Love this shot btw

But Fashion is also about Art. With Steam Punk there is a great uniqueness for art. Here are a few Steam Punk Art Pieces

For more Steam Punk pics, please take this Saturday Morning to peruse my Steam Punk Pinterest Board for yourself HERE

And if you like to do crafts here is a fun little Steam Punk Craft Sheet you can try and make some fun things out of